Crystalheart
by akstevens
Summary: A young draenei goes hunting for a fallen star and finds something unexpected. Is this a start of interesting path for this young adventurer?
1. Chapter 1

My hunt had begun early in the morning, leaving the pod-hut well before anyone had begun to stir. Not even the first light of dawn had broken on the edge of the horizon as I hopped down the rocky ledge where my home village sat. The short sword that I had newly forged the previous day was firmly gripped in my hand, secured in its scabard. I waited until the woods had obscured the view of the village before strapping it to my waist with the pouch that held a small vial of a crimson liquid and a few simple linen bandages. I made my way to the old stone bridge that connected the two main islands. The incident during the night that had inspired my very early morning adventure played repeatedly in my mind as I made my way to the crossing.

My restful slumber during the night had been interrupted by a sudden loud, booming noise. Originally, I had attributed it to thunder from another storm that was not uncommon for the area. They seemed to blow in at random sometimes dumping a deluge while other times passing by dropping only a barely noticable sprinkle of rain but filling the sky with lightning and deafening rolling thunder. This night was one of the latter. Dark clouds had shrouded the sky during the night obscuring the stars and moon. It justified my assumptions that another storm had rolled in.

Looking out of the open window, my sleepy eyes descerned what I had originally assumed was lightning leaping through the clouds. I was about to lay back down and shut my eyes when I witnessed a small point of light fall from the overcast like a stray spark from a gnomish skyrocket during the Lunar festival. I rushed to the wIt appeared to fall beyond Azure Myst and somewhere upon the neighboring island. I recalled no discernable sound of impact as one would if it had been a sizable crashing object.

The rest of the night had been spent replaying the sight in my mind to the point of an unhealthy obsession. What was it that had fallen? I kept telling myself to forget about it and rest for the coming morning. There would be chores that would require my attentions. Despite my efforts to quiet my thoughts and let rest have me, the spark kept shining in my mind. That was when I made my decision to find it.

The sound of waves crashing against the massive marble pillars that supported the bridge were loud despite the air being so calm. Maybe the mysterious object had crashed into the water beyond my reach. As I did not see where the strange object had landed, it was possible there would be nothing to find. That would be my luck if such were the case.

Much of the cloud cover that was present during the night was beginning to disapate revealing the purple hues to herald the coming of dawn. The original goal of mine had been to find what had fallen during the night and return home before my absence was noticed. Mother would not have objected about me being awake so early. My father would see it differently. This meant that my time to search would be relatively short. I had to hurry!

The normal patrols were light on the path to Blood Myst Isle that morning. What patrols I had encountered passed me with but a nod in my direction. Many of them were familiar faces, warriors that father commonly associated with. Whether or not they would speak of my early morning adventures with him was another detail I had overlooked. That will be an encounter I had better steel myself for later.

"Interesting starfall tonight," one of the patrol said as they passed me. I stopped for a moment to listen. Starfall? Or were they referring to the strange spark as well? Maybe I would gain a clue of what it was that I was hunting for.

"Wonder if it was another piece of the Exodar," the second pondered. "It would only be our poor luck that something else would cause another mess of the island."

"I would have thought anything that was left from the Exodar would have either crashed with us or have been destroyed with its descent,"the first had noted.

"Either way, it appears it headed past us, thankfully. I just hope that it didn't cause any issues near the Exodar. I'm actually looking forward to some levity this coming evening."

"Agreed," added the other as their voices began to fade into the distance.

To the west towards the Exodar. That didn't bode well for my hunting prospects. The beach would be the best place to start the search even as I was beginning to think that this early morning hunt was starting to sound like a fool's errand. Who was to say that the mysterious spark had not fallen into the sea?

Though much of the island was still uninhabited, I wasn't so naive as to not expect trouble from the other wild creatures that roamed it. Some of the flora could be just as aggressive as the animals of the island. Either way, I kept my sword at the ready as my ventures took my farther from the well traveled path. The sun finally began to peek barely over the horizon as I came closer to the shore. Though most of the crystal debris from the original crash of the Exodar many years before had been cleaned away, the island still retained the red hue to must of its plant-life. The supple grass beneath my hooves, that lined the sandbar, were a bright crimson hue in the faint morning light.

As I passed the tall barrier of grass concealing my view of the beach, I was somewhat surprised by what I discovered. A portion on the beach appeared to have been carved away into the sea. Water had already filled in the crater left by the resulting impact. The remains of small stilted huts were also scattered about with the bodies of a handful of murlocs among the debris. I kept my blade ready as the last thing I wanted to explain were injuries from murloc claws.

I could only assume that the impacting object had killed them and would be lying to myself if I didn't begin to question making this venture to find the mysterious item from the sky. My eyes scanned the length of the beach for any other sign of life. Scavengers were starting to appear as the sun began to cast its light along the red sand. Seagulls were the least of my concerns and there were no obvious threats about. I still kept the short sword at the ready should anything else have decided to come exploring the area. It would be foolish to expect all of the danger to have passed or kept itself at bay. Who knew what else could also be searching for the object from the night sky?

I was unsure whether this was a moment of luck or fate that smiled upon me this morning. In the swallows of the water, my eyes were greeted by the shimmer of light in the wet sand. I knelt down as my free hand easily sank into the sand wrapping about the source of what had captured my attentions. I could only assume that this item, a single shard of crystal, was the spark that I had witnessed during the night. It was nearly the same width and thickness of my thumb. Unlike the majority of crystals on the island, this one lacked any color or visible flaws at first glance.

I held the piece up to the rising sunlight allowing the mysterious shard. There were no visible flaws therein or any hints of color deviations present. Though my overall knowledge of precious stones were limited, this particular piece was a beautiful specimen to behold.

A hint of the refracted colours gleamed into my eye filling my vision with a blinding light. There was no pain or discomfort though it was soothing and yet alien. What was this? Where...? The light faded away as suddenly as it had appeared.

I looked around unsure of my surroundings for a brief moment. The cool breeze off of the sea carried the scent of the dead across my nose. The dead murlocks, I reminded myself.

I placed my find within the small pouch on my hip alongside the other items that I had brought with me. My continued search was short as the other items about the area appeared to be more mundane compared to my first find. Most of what remained appeared to be mostly wood from destroyed huts, shattered pottery, broken crude weapons murlock bodies.

"Better make myself scarce before something larger comes out to be nosy or hungry."

I retraced the path back to the main road and wasted no time traveling back to the village. The sun was just hovering over the horizon as my home village came into view just over the treetops. My family's pod was on the edge of the village and it was no real shock to see movement through one of the windows. So much for sneaking back into bed. It would be no surprise find both mother and father about. There would also be no feigning that I was out hunting or fishing since I lacked a bow or a firelock much less a fishing pole. Last time that I had wandered off in the early hours of the morning, my father gave me quite the lecture followed by leaving a sizable knot on my head. My hand gently rubbed the long since disappeared wound to my boyish pride as the virile crest of bone was already at its full size upon my head, or so I was told.

The path that I chose to take though the wooded area at the base of the cliff where my home village sat was lush with the familiar silvery leaf shrubs that I often saw my mother and others in the village harvesting from occassionally for the healers and the scribes. Admittedly, my eyes aren't as keen as the others for gathering the perfect leaf, but if I show up empty handed... I was careful to pull the larger leaves from the shrubs recalling many times when my mother would scold me for pulling the much smaller, more tender leaves when my smaller hands weren't so precise. Beyond those somewhat painful lessons, my working knowledge of herb gathering was barely beyond that basic step. My pouch was almost completely filled with the silvery leaves as I came to the cobblestone pathway leading to the village.

"Good morning, Gavril!" came the unexpected greeting that pulled my attention from my goal. It was one of the village protectors at his normal post. I was a bit surprised to see it was my father's closest friend.

"Good morning, sir Mikhail," I returned the greeting though quietly cursing a blue streak under my breath. There was no way that I was going to avoid the coming punishment at home at this rate. In our conversation, I had discovered that he and my father would both be working patrols in the city with the coming festival this evening and that his son, my closest friend Aethon, would also be there. Here is hoping that my parents don't bury me in chores for running off this morning.

"Ahh, so eager to see the city again that you woke up early to beat me to the edge of town, son?" came the all too familiar voice of my father. I didn't even have a chance to turn around when I felt his large, solid hand landing a stinging slap right between my shoulder blades that even the weight of my tail could not counteract for my loss of balance sending me stumbling forward. "Morning, father," I finally managed to blurt out once I was finally able to get my hooves steady beneath me. "You know that I always enjoy the sites of the city," I added, straightening myself and regaining my footing.

"Good, then you can also help with the preparations for this evenings festivities," he smirked. "I'm sure that the elek handlers can use a helping hand or two."

Wonderful! I've been conscripted for work elsewhere instead of home. I guess that it was better than the potential punishment that I had been dreading during my journey back from my hunt. But helping the elek handlers already seemed like an unfair punishment for the crime of being out before dawn.

Mikhail placed a firm but much gentler hand upon my shoulder as he and my father approached. "Don't worry too much about the labor, my boy. Aethon has already gone ahead of us to help with the setup and there might not be much left for you to do when we get there," he assured me.

Not much was said among us as we traveled the path to Exodar City. My father and Mikhail talked among themselves as I followed a few paces behind them. There would be occasional question directed my way, but my thoughts were preoccupied on wanting to examine my recent find... and possibly what to do with a pouch full of silverleaf. Maybe during a break, I could take a closer look at my new treasure and maybe catch a nap.


	2. Chapter 2

The growl from my stomach was much louder than I had originally thought as I looked over my shoulder to see the baker that I had been assisting all morning preparing breads and treats for the coming festival and his other helpers were looking in my direction from their respective work areas. I gave a sheepish smile just as I heard the baker roar with laughter. It was the type of laughter that hid no malice and proved contagious to everyone present. Even my embarassment faltered against the mirth as I also joined in.

"Is your father not feeding you enough, boy?" the baker asked, piling the latest batch of bread loaves into one of the many woven baskets.

"Oh no, sir," I assured him as I picked up one of the baskets that was already laden with warm, fragrant sweet rolls. "I made sure to eat a hardy meal before I came." I carried my basket to the shop's entrance and placed it down alongside a couple of other loaf-laden baskets intended to attract customers. Already, the displayed rolls were enticing passer-bys; they drifted towards the bakery's entrance, deeply breathing the scent of freshly baked bread. Another assistant quickly greeted the would-be customers.

"If he did eat before he arrived this morning, it would make perfect sense that he would be hungry since it is well past the noon hour," I overheard one of his assistants state as I stepped back into the baker's shop.

The baker's large hand stroked the single tendrils that grew from his chin, his eyes studying me intently as I stood in the doorway. "You have done a fine job for an inexperienced lad," he complimented me as he turned to one of the cooling racks laden with pans of rolls. "Maybe I could persuade you to make this a regular task of helping us with the ovens instead of playing with those odd statues."

"Those are totems, sir," I politely corrected him. I was still adjusting to the lack of full acceptance of shamanism that I studied. My master had warned me of the heavy suspicion against the practice by many within our society. There were those that still considered it to be eccentric if not esoteric compared to the readily accepted practice of the priesthood or the Vindicators' order as well as the use of arcane magic.

My fascination at seeing other shaman manipulating and controlling the wild nature of the elements started a long time ago. That interests only grew when I heard of the accomplishments of the Earthen Ring from many years ago. It was with my father's blessing that I sought training in the shamanistic arts.

"Aye, aye," he replied almost dismissively as he grabbed something from the rack in front of him. "I confess that I still don't agree with our venerable Prophet about the practice, much less allowing those touched by the fel corruption to walk among us. However, I am not one to go against his word or the Light's blessing."

Growing up, I always heard the whispers from the adults of pity, even disdain, for the Broken. Many said that they had abandoned their connection with the Light. This caused their bodies to become twisted from their original elegance into lumbering husks while yet still retaining some manner of their former selves. That is what many had believed openly. There were others who distrusted them altogether, believing them tainted by some unspoken evil. Many would not acknowledge them in passing or even when approached. Moretimes than not, the most menial tasks were left for them to address, tasks many others did not dare pursue themselves. Some of them were very necessary though never spoken of aloud in polite company. The treatment of them as being beneath the masses always caused my jaw to tighten.

I had asked my mentor of how he came to be a Broken. Ormand once spoke to me that he once practiced the way of the Light before practicing the way of shamanism. He refused to answer despite my efforts to understand. Despite that, he continued to use his knowledge of medicine to heal where he lacked the Light's ability to accomplish. The practice of communing and manipulating the elements seemed to be a redeeming quality to them in the eyes of some since they did not have the connection to the Light as we draenei have. In many tales told to me, the shaman were just as effective as their priestly and vindicator counterparts. Yet, the same respect was not fully displayed.

As I felt the heat of rage beginning to well up in my chest, what was to be my explosive outburst was smothered as a small heavy woolen sack was tossed to me. The fragrance of spices from warm bread rolls filled my nose instantly causing my mouth to water and my still empty stomach to growl from hunger. "I know that you were volunteering your time to help me today, Aethon, but you've earned your share," the baker stated. "Be sure to come back by later on. I may have something else for you."

"My thanks for the chance to help," I smiled as my irritation from moments before seemed to be only a vague and distant memory. I gave a salute as I left the shop, passing by some of the other stalls that I had helped earlier in the day. Most shouted their appreciation for my assistance as I passed.

My attention was caught by a familiar face as I was about to pass the inn near the city's entry gate. Standing in the entry to the inn was the young draenei that had greeted me when I had made a delivery for the innkeeper earlier this morning. "Aethon, come here," she beckoned, "I wanted to show you something earlier but you left before I had a chance to show you."

"Sorry about that, Gaylnor," I chagrinedly apologized as I approached the doorway. "It's been a busy morning at the bakery and some of the other shops."

She waved off the apology with a momentary flick of her hand. "You know that I don't hold that against you knowing that yours and Gavrel's dad made it known that you two would be doing work this morning."

What? Gavrel was also out this morning? "Have you seen him today?"I asked. "I would have thought he would be in the city somewhere if he was helping."

"There's no telling where he could be, though I think he's probably goofing off somewhere," she mused almost dismissively. "I can hear his father already, 'He's a good son just needs to build a little character'."

It was a very familiar quote that I had heard time and again. "I take it my father and his were both here again?" I asked.

"As always," she nodded. "They were talking... let me correct my statement... bragging as usual."

"Bragging?" I failed to hide my confusion at her revelation of my father's habits. "I've never know him to boast about anything unless he suddenly turns into a dwarf when he has a few tankards in him."

Gaylnor tried to stifle a giggle at my comment but it slipped through her normally annoyed exterior. It was a rare sight that I always enjoyed seeing. "That shouldn't have been that mirth-filled as it was. Especially since it wasn't your father doing the boasting but Gavrel's, and I could see him as a surly dwarf."

This time I was the one rolling with laughter picturing the normally stoic peacekeeper reduced to blathering hairy mass of drunken surliness. I had pondered such ideas in the past but never shared them with anyone else, much less my closest friends Gavrel or Gaylnor.

"I still need your help in here, Gaylnor," came a voice from within the building. She tensed for a moment before turning and calling back through the door, "I'll be right there!"

"Go ahead and finish your work, I'm going to go find Gavrel," I assured her. "Let's meet up at the Seat before the Prophet speaks later this afternoon."

"Alright, I'll show you the piece that I had finished last night when we meet up." I nodded to her and was about to head off when she suddenly embraced me firmly before disappearing back through the door. It was not unusual for her to give warm embraces, but I found them to be an unexpected surprise.

"She's showing a liking to you, son," I heard the voice of my father behind me.

"I... guess..." My confusion had not faded from my face as I turned my attentions to him. "She said that you and Delshad were here again last night."

"That is true,"he affirmed as his hand rested upon my head. "However, it was not all drunken surliness as she had claimed though a few of my fellow peacekeepers do become more than a bit boisterous when they drink a bit too much ale."

His assurance put me at ease to know that Gailnor's claim was a bit exaggerated. "I guess I worry too much," I laughed. "By the way, I'd heard that Gavrel was also working this morning. Have you seen him?"

"The poor lad got saddled with helping the elekk handlers in preparation for the parade this afternoon. Maybe you can help him out and then get yourselves ready for the festival."

"I will make my way there then." I bid my father a farewell as I headed for the city gate.


	3. Chapter 3

I could not recall how long I had been laying in the grass near the stream, but the time spent was very relaxing. The shade of an oak tree provided enough shelter from the midday sun to allow me a chance to nap as my damp clothes hung from a low bough to dry. I didn't struggle against my fatigue as it pulled me into peaceful slumber with the help of the singing of the bird in the canopy accompanied by the russling of the leaves. I was lulling into dreamleiss sleep as the discomfort and stiffness of the day's work faded away.

Aside from my early morning adventure, the rest of my morning had been spent working carefully around the elekks that had been brought in from Blood Myst for the day's parade. Many times when I was smaller, my parents had assured me that the beasts were generally well mannered. I shuddered recalling too many moments during the day where I was nearly stepped on during the preparation. It was the unexpected reaction of one of them that ended my duties for the day and allowed me to escape to my current place of relaxation.

"Gavrel!" I slowly opened my eyes staring up at the points of light piercing through the canopy overhead. I pushed myself up as I heard my name being called again. Who was looking for me out here? I hope that they had not told my father that I was no longer assisting with the elekk preparation. That was a conversation that I would not be looking forward to.

"Hey, Gavrel," greeted Aethon as he came into view. "I thought I'd not find you before the evening festivities."

A sense of relief washed over me that it was my best friend and not someone else at that moment as I was completely bare of clothes save for the simple loin wrapping. And, admittedly, there were other reasons that I was thankful that it was only him. I worked my way to my hooves taking a moment to stretch the remaining stiffness from my muscles as the fatigue of the day seemed to linger for a moment longer.

"Did you finish your work so soon?" I asked as I watched him make his way to the stream's edge. "I had figured that you would be working up until the festival started if not helping during it."

Aethon and I greeted each other with out usual forearm grasp and giving each other a light shake. There was a slight grittiness to his skin though I could not determine if it was dirt or something else as I released his arm and took a seat back at the base of the tree that provided me shelter for the morning. "What were you doing all morning while I was stuck playing with the elekks?" I asked taking a moment to scratch my dried scalp as my friend sat down next to me setting the sack that he had been carrying over his shoulder between us. My nose caught the hint of spices from his parcel but I held my inquiry of its contents for the moment.

"I was mainly working with the baker this morning and some of the other merchants in the Crystal Quarter of the city," he elaborated as he stretched out his legs. "I had not known that you were also doing volunteer work until I had come across Gaylnor near the entry."

That explained a lot about what had felt on his skin. It was baking flour and ground spices. The aroma of the spices from the bag wafted across my nose causing my stomach to give a low grumble in hunger protest. My hand light passed over my belly as I continued to listen.

"I saw her at the inn this morning but I didn't have a chance to talk with her since I was dealing with the elekks that seemed uneasy ." It was at that moment that I felt the sudden pinch in my gut followed by the very audible growl therein. "I should have grabbed a few of those apples from the crates when I left," I lamented under my breath as my hand gripped at my aching stomach.

"So you snuck off from your volunteer work to have a dip without me instead of possibly coming by the merchants to grab a bite to eat ," Aethon said as he pointed out my lack of clothing.

I shook my head though a chuckle did escape me as the real reason for me being here was about to come out. "No, I was released from work duties with the elekk handlers after one of the fel beast decided to share its feeling towards me from the back end." I ran my hands through my hair several times. "I've bathed myself and my clothes over a dozen times to make sure that everything was cleaned. Last thing that I wanted to do was head anywhere that I would have been seen, much less smelled, after what had happened."

Aethon started to chuckle for a moment after I finished my explanation. He was unable to hold back his laughter, falling backwards as he's overcome with mirth. His laughter lasted for a while before he recovered and sat back up. "So, you can say that you were, I think I have heard some of the humans put it, 'da shit!"

"Yeah, yeah, I really intended to make myself the butt of a joke today," I grumbled feeling the heat of my anger and embarrassment beginning to rise. It did not help that he continued his laughter even after I had made my argument.

"You're being too sensitive about this," he tried to assure me as he opened the satchel that sat between us. The scent of the spices that had tickled my nose earlier grew stronger which also stirred the hunger in my stomach. My anger waned as he offered one of the spiced rolls from his satchel. "Well, we know how your day started so hopefully this will sweeten your disposition."

I don't recall snatching the roll from him and quickly devouring it. There was a vague memory in my mind recalling the taste if the spices, the fluffy texture of the bread and the sweetness of the honey that coated it. "If I wasn't so famished right now, I would have stuffed this damned thing up your nose for that comment," I barked at him even as he handed me a second roll. "I left the house well before mom had prepared anything for breakfast and wasn't able to sneak back in before I was caught by your dad by the village entry. Thus putting me where the rest of my day has gone."

"Why were you up so early? There was no scholastics trainings today and neither of us were assigned to the fields," he finally asked once he had finished the roll that he was eating.

I mulled over the risks of sharing the true reason for my morning adventure as the last bite of the second roll he had handed was tossed into my mouth. I knew that Aethon was good at keeping secrets between us as it was always the case even when either one of us could have used what the other knew to escape punishment or otherwise have gotten the other in trouble. I trusted him with other secrets so why not?

I stood up from the spot where I been resting and went over to where my clothes were hanging and pulled off the pouch that was secured to my belt. Luckily, none of the eleikk excrement had touched the pouch though I wondered if the herbs would still be useful after the ordeal as I returned to our makeshift picnic spot.

"Did you see that bright flash in the sky last night or have you heard about it?" I asked as I took my spot setting the pouch down next to me.

"I didn't witness it but I did hear many of the merchants talking about it in the quarter when I was helping them set things up,"he replied as he fished another roll from his bag along with a wedge of cheese. "Some of them seemed concerned about it, others not so much."

"I wasn't quite asleep when I saw it myself," I confessed as I pulled out the silversage leaves, the small vial of medicine and the bandages. "I also noticed something had fallen near the bridge to Bloodmyst Isle. I went to check it out. Thankfully, the bridge to the island was untouched."

"You were assuming otherwise?" my friend inquired as he noted the items that I had pulled out while retrieving my recently found treasure. My response was just a smile. "The Peacekeepers were talking about scouts having checked the outlying villages and all to see if anyone had been injured. Thankfully, I've not heard of anyone hurt or any damage thereabouts."

"Maybe they should go see the murlock colony on the farside of Blood Myst," I added as my fingers finally found the piece within the pouch. "I went there early this morning and saw that their village was destroyed and not a living fishman to be seen. I also found this."

I held the small crystal between my thumb and index finger for Aethon to see. His eyes locked onto the clear stone for a moment before asking to take a closer look at it. "You found this at the village?" he asks taking the crystal. He held it up in the same manner as I had done when I initially had discovered it.

"Yeah, though I can't say that this was apart of what fell out of the sky during the nigh. From the aftermath of what became of that murlock village, I can only assume that it may have had something to do with it. That and the fact that it's not like any of the other crystals on the island. It has no color to it."

He closed his fingers about the crystal as his eyes drifted shut. I had seen him do this before when he would try to commune with the elements during his shamanistic studies. His silence lasted for a long time. I retrieved and ate another roll from his bag before he seemedto return to his senses. "It's not from this world and definitely not draenic either," he noted as he handed the crystal back to me as he started to rub his eyes.

"What would make you think that it may be draenic?" I asked.

"My mentor recently taught me how to distinguish elements from different worlds, mainly this world and Draenor to be specific," he clarified. "The crystals from the Exodar are a bit different, but it's hard to explain to those that aren't shaman. I can sense something from it but it's too alien to me to really decipher. If you want, I can talk with my mentor and have him look at it."

His talk of communing with the elements in general was difficult to comprehend even when he tried to explain it to me in the past. I didn't understand the whole ability to commune with the Light either. The naaru was a manifestation that I could understand due to there actual physical presence. This is likely the reason why I was not so eager to join the vindicators' order as my father was less than subtle in his insistance that I join. None of it held any appeal to me.

My thoughts ventured back to the crystal and his suggestion of showing it to his Broken mentor. There was always something unnerving about the Broken. I could say that it was their physical form, but that aspect was not entirely part of it. To share the knowledge of this with one was unjustifiedly discomforting.

"I want to hold off on letting too many know about this just yet," I stated as I began to return the items back into my belt pouch. "You are the only one that I've told about this though I suspect you dad may have figured things out since he caught me outside of the village."

Aethon only gave me a nod as he turned his attention to the cheese that he had pulled from his pack from earlier. "You should not be so apprehensive of Ormand and others like him."

That was another trait about my best friend, a similarity to his father. "I hate when you do that," I sighed and stood up retrieving the rest of my clothes from where they hung.

"We should be heading back and getting ready for the festival," he said finally standing from the bank. "I still need to wash all of this flour from my person."

As he had worked his way to his h;ooves his attentions focused on the stream and the accompanying waterfall, I had already worked my shirt on as I stood behind him. My steps were slow as I crept behind him and gave a quick and firm push from behind Aethon sending stumbling into the stream. Almost instantly, he came up from the water completely soaked as I could not hold back my laughter if I had wanted to "I guess you may want to keep a fair distance from your foreman of fire for a while less you might wind up, how did they put it..." I pondered for a moment before finishing, "half baked!"

Aethon stood in the waist deep water his thick mane having lost most of its volume being thoroughly soaked along with the rest of his burly person. I received a face full of water as he flicked his massive tail in retaliation. Though I did not become as soaked as him, my clothes did become quite damp. "Hurry up and get cleaned since you worked so hard today," I lightly teased as I slipped into my trousers. "I'll catch up with you later!"

"Fine, fine," he responded grudgingly. "Look for Gaylnor at the Seat and I'll meet you two there." Aethon waved as I turned and headed back to the village leaving him to his personal preparation.


End file.
